.CR3 File Extension
Canon Raw 3 Image
| Developer | Canon |
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What is a CR3 file?
A CR3 file is a camera RAW image created by select Canon digital cameras, such as the EOS M50 and EOS R. It may store uncompressed RAW image data exactly how the camera's sensor captured it or compressed RAW (C-RAW) image data depending on the camera setting selected when capturing the image. Various image editors can view, edit, and convert CR3 files, such as Canon Digital Photo Professional and Adobe Lightroom.
More Information
Canon introduced the Canon Raw Image 3 (CR3) format in 2018 when it released EOS M50, replacing the Canon Raw Image 2 (CR2) format (.CR2 files). The CR3 format is based on the ISO Base Media File Format and includes custom tags and the crx codec, which supports lossless RAW and lossy C-RAW compressions. If saved with lossy C-RAW compression, the image is roughly 40% smaller with minimal difference in image quality.
The Canon EOS M50 comes with the Digic 8 processor, which allows it to capture images in the CR3 format. Earlier versions of Canon digital cameras used the .CRW and CR2 format. The CRW format is based on the Camera Image File Format (CIFF), and the CR2 format is based on the TIFF specification.
How to open a CR3 file
You can open CR3 files with Canon Digital Photo Professional (Windows, Mac), Canon Digital Photo Professional Express (iOS), Microsoft Photos (with the Microsoft Raw Image Extension), and Apple Preview (Mac).
Some other applications that also provide editing options include Adobe Lightroom (Windows, Mac), Adobe Lightroom for iPad, or Adobe Lightroom Classic (version 8.0 and later) with the Adobe Camera Raw plugin (version 11.0 and later) installed.
NOTE: Apple introduced system-level support for CR3 images when it released macOS Catalina (10.15) and iOS 13. However, there are Canon camera models that create CR3 images that macOS and iOS operating systems do not support.
How to convert a CR3 file
Several image viewers and editors, including Canon Digital Photo Professional and Apple Preview, can convert CR3 files to other formats.
For example, in Apple Preview, select to convert a CR3 file to one of the following formats: